MirrorImage Rachel
by Katie Darren
Summary: Ross tries to persuade Rachel to get back together with him and then Joey sees a fit young woman who says her name is Rachel...the real Rachel Green. So which one is the real Rachel Green and which one is faking it? It is a story about faking lives...
1. The Meeting

Ross touched Rachel's arm. "We should get back together," he said, sipping his coffee in Central Perk, the gang's favourite hangout. They could often be found there, talking and gossiping and ordering drinks. Phoebe's little fling – Hums-While-He-Pees – was there usually all the time, trying to catch a glimpse of her. She hated this attention.  
"No, Ross," Rachel spat.  
Joey spotted a fit young woman, with brown curls – who looked like one of the bridesmaids he had kissed once – and scooted over to her with his drink in one hand and he spilled it all over himself and still managed to look cool and she smiled at him. "How you doin'?" Joey asked.  
"Just fine," the woman answered. "My name's Rachel," she added – and looked at Rachel Green, the one who Ross was trying to persuade to get together with him again. She extended her hand. "I work at a t-shirt office," she said. "Rachel, Rachel Green."  
Joey gasped and then fainted. 


	2. The Truth

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked, hurrying over from Ross who spilt his drink in all the commotion. "Why did...who are...you?" Rachel managed to say to the woman, despite being shocked. Joey was lying on the floor, right there, and pointing at the woman desperately.  
"She says...she says she you," he mumbled.  
Ross hurried over. Everyone in Central Perk was looking at them. "I think we better go to the park," the woman said, bringing out some headphones with little cardboard triangles stuck on them. "I'm the devil. Remember when we had a kiss in the park, Ross?"  
"No," Ross said triumphantly.  
"Neither do I," Rachel said, determined to defend him. "I am the real Rachel Green around here, and I'm not going to let you steal that title. Or my blush-box or my make-up, now I think about it. I'm the one who's been going out with him for most of my life."  
"You're the one that's faking it," the woman snapped back, stubbornly – and walked out of Central Perk. Rachel rubbed her hands together, and shot a few scared looks at Joey and Ross.  
"So, are you?" Ross asked sadly.  
"What?" Rachel asked, licking her fingertips. She was trying not to swell with pride. It wasn't often that she chased an impostor away. But when she saw their faces she knew something was wrong.  
"Are you the real Rachel Green?" Ross asked. The crowd inside Central Perk sat on the end of their chairs, waiting to hear the truth. Rachel stared at them all and a lump rose in her throat.  
"No, I'm not," she whispered, biting her lip. "I'm not. The real one was bullying me so I decided to take her place. And, as I know, you've been a great friend to me and it's worked most of the time. But not anymore, I guess. My real name is Imogen Davies."  
Ross and Joey tried to keep calm. But you could see it in their faces, they were not calm. How were the rest of the gang going to take this. "Only joking – did you really fall for that?" Rachel announced, and started laughing. They began to laugh with her too.  
Then something hit them  
What if it wasn't meant to be a joke? 


	3. The Hope

Ross and Joey were sipping quietly and munching on cream buns. They had badly shocked expressions on their faces. Phoebe came in. Joey looked meekly at her. "Hi, guys," she said, oblivious to the trouble they were in. "Um...Ross, would you mind going after Monica to tell her that her easy- bake ovens will not fit her little cakes anymore? Since they're not really little, are they? And I think you should go and comfort Rachel, Joey, she looks..."  
"...like another person," Joey finished, biting his nails.  
Phoebe seemed distracted by all of this, and asked what was wrong. Joey shuddered. "Um, Rachel is not who we thought she was. She stole her name to pay someone back. To pay the real Rachel Green back."  
Phoebe sat down on a stool in silence. "You mean she's an impostor – and the mirror she used to keep looking into isn't reflecting her real face? Well, yes – of course it is, but you know what I mean..." She was close to tears. Then again she had been Rach's best friend, so it was understandable.  
"We don't know if she's lying or not," Ross whispered. "All we do know is that if she is indeed who she says she is, then she's not Rachel and it was damn hurtful that she told us a lie."  
"As you said, we don't know," Joey repeated. "We don't know. I have trusted this...this Rachel all my life and I'm not about to stop now." He did stop then, because a chick with short blond spiked hair was leaning towards him and stroking his chin. Joey smiled, then ran his fingers along her chin. Phoebe and Ross stared at him.  
They couldn't believe it!  
Rachel had just deceived them in front of their own eyes, and he was on the point of chatting up women! Inside Phoebe, a flicker of hope glowed – hope that she was indeed lying and pretending nothing was wrong cause it wasn't. This Rachel, the one Phoebe had known since moving to New York, was the real one – she knew it!  
She only hoped Rachel did too. 


End file.
